Ed Sheeran

Edward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer, songwriter and occasional rapper and actor.

He was born in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk. He attended the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, Surrey, as an undergraduate from the age of 18 in autumn 2009. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project, which caught the attention of Elton John and Jamie Foxx.

After signing with Asylum Records, his debut album, + (read as "plus"), was released on 9 September 2011 and has since been certified seven-times platinum in the UK. The album contains the single "The A Team", which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. In 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act.

Sheeran's popularity abroad began in 2012. In the US, he made a guest appearance on Taylor Swift's fourth studio album, Red. "The A Team" was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards, where he performed the song with Elton John. He spent much of 2013 opening for Swift's The Red Tour in North America dates. In late 2013, he performed three sold-out shows at New York's Madison Square Garden as a headline act.

His second studio album, x (read as "multiply"), was released on 23 June 2014. It peaked at number one in the UK and the US. In 2015, x won the Brit Award for Album of the Year, and he received the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year. His single from x, "Thinking Out Loud", earned him two Grammy Awards at the 2016 ceremony: Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. As part of his world tour, Sheeran played three sold-out concerts at London's Wembley Stadium in July 2015, his biggest solo shows to date.

Sheeran's third album, ÷ ("divide"), will be released in March 2017. The first two singles from the album, "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill", were released in January 2017 and broke records in a number of countries, including the UK, Australia and Germany, by debuting in the top two positions of the charts. He also became the first artist to have two songs debut in the US top 10. One of the most successful musicians in contemporary British popular culture, Sheeran appeared on Debrett's 2017 list of the most influential people in Brit

Thinking Out Loud

"Thinking Out Loud" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, recorded for his second studio album, × (2014). It was written by Sheeran and Amy Wadge and was produced by frequent collaborator Jake Gosling. It was released in the US on 24 September 2014, serving as the third single from the album.

In the UK, the song spent 19 weeks within the top 40 before it peaked at number-one in early November 2014; it became Sheeran's second number-one single there. The single has also reached the top spot in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands, Slovakia and South Africa, and peaking at number two on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian Hot 100, was the Sheeran's highest charting single in North America until "Shape of You" topped the charts in both countries in 2017.

In June 2015, "Thinking Out Loud" became the first single to spend a full year in the UK top 40. In September 2015, it also became the seventh single to have achieved triple platinum in the UK during the 21st century. In October 2015, the song became the first to be streamed over 500 million times on Spotify, is also one of the most streamed songs in the UK and has been viewed more than 1.4 billion times on YouTube.[2]

"Thinking Out Loud" received nominations for Grammy Award for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards, winning the latter two.

Wikinews has related news: Ed Sheeran wins Song of Year Grammy for Thinking Out LoudOn 10 August 2016, it was announced that Sheeran was getting sued by the family of Ed Townsend for copyright infringement, who claim that "Thinking Out Loud" plagiarises elements of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On".[3]

"Perfect" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran from his third studio album, ÷ (2017). After the album's release it charted at number four on the UK Singles Chart. On 21 August 2017, Billboard announced that "Perfect" would be the fourth single from the album.

The song was serviced to pop radio on 26 September 2017, as the third single from the album in the United States (fourth overall). The song eventually reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 in December 2017. It also peaked at number one in sixteen other countries, including Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.

A version of "Perfect", titled "Perfect Duet", with American singer Beyoncé was released on 1 December 2017. Another duet with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, titled "Perfect Symphony", was released on 15 December 2017. "Perfect" also became the UK Christmas number-one song for 2017.